Indexing & Search Engine: What CEO Larry Page Should Do to Improve Google

On April 4, Google Co-Founder Larry Page reclaimed the helm as the search engine's CEO from Eric Schmidt, who had led the company since assuming the top role from Page in 2001. Schmidt, who announced the change in January during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, has moved to the role of executive chairman, where he will focus on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships. In the last two months, Google employees have said Page is looking to cut some of the fat off of the company and help it return to its startup rootsas much as a company with a market cap of $188 billion and $29 billion a year in revenue can revert to its startup ways from the last decade. In January, eWEEK looked at what Page needed to do to become a successful CEO. A few things have happened since then, so it's time to turn to the next chapter in Google's storied history and look at what Page should do to improve Google as a company. Hopefully, this will all result in improving the user experience, which, while not poor, is somewhat lacking in social graces and a few other areas.

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Curb the Dark Matter

In its efforts to be everything to everyone online, Google has added some things best left to others, or perhaps even left alone. Take Google Health. Despite Google's claims that cultivating online personal health records takes time, the market does not wait for these things. Google may have made $29 billion last year, but efforts like Google Health may eventually drag on the bottom line. Page has asked management to "email him about their projects to potentially winnow them down," according to The Wall Street Journal. Why not start with shaving off Google Health? Even Google Buzz, the controversial social conversation service has some foothold in Google's evolving social strategy. Health appears sick at sea. (Couldn't resist the pun, sorry.) Here is the last we've heard of it... since September. So much for iterating.